Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism

Participatory Democracy and Political Accountability   BY ABUBAKAR MOMOH DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY LAGOS   Introduction It should be stated that local governance had existed prior to colonial rule inNigeria. The local people, called the native by the British colonial masters, ruled themselves in ways that were strange, unknown and unacceptable to the colonial masters, through their locally constructed institutions, mediated by culture, tradition, religion and values. As a result of this the colonial masters called the African peoples natives, to distinguish them from settlers-who were the white people. This was how they created the Native Authority (NA) system, as a form of governance of the natives with the Chiefs, Hakimis, and Kings (Emirs, Sultan and so on) at the top mediated by colonial offices as umpires who superintended over tax collection, Native courts and Native … Read entire article »

I count it a great honour to have been judged worthy of presenting this Lecture to mark the 75th birthday anniversary of our illustrious and most distinguished compatriot, Professor Wole Soyinka. He has been such a constant presence in our national life and our consciousness that we hardly noticed the passage of time in a life so rich in interest and incident. It seems only a few years ago that he was so startled by the … Read entire article »